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196
the next few days, McKinley receivied
letters written by Wilmington’s African
Americans begging for help and by others
pleading with the president on behalf of the
blacks in the South. 8
The letters to McKinley reflect a
spectrum of responses to the violence and
the desire for governmental involvement.
Out- of- state correspondents stressed the
patriotism of African Americans as they
appealed to McKinley’s honor and implored
intervention: “[ I] f there needs to be a
standing army, please send one.” Letters
from Wilmington reflected a different tone
and demonstrated the fearfulness of the
city’s blacks: “[ A] re we to die like rats in a
trap?” Three days after the riot, one
correspondent who said that she could not
“ sign [ her] name and live” wrote a detailed
account of the violence, intimidation and
banishment campaign. At the top of her
letter she asked the President to “ send relief
as soon as possible or we perish.” In the
body of her note, she explained that many in
the city would gladly go to Africa because
of the violence: “[ T] oday we are mourners
in a strange land with no protection near.
God help us.” Another correspondent who
was “ afraid to own [ his] name” wrote to
McKinley that blacks were overpowered
“ with the rapid fire of the guns, and they had
McKinley, November 12, 1898, McKinley Papers,
National Archives, Washington, D. C.
8 A collection of letters received by McKinley is held
in the Department of Justice files for 1898 in the
National Archives. One of the letters was written to
Marcus Hanna, Ohio U. S. senator and McKinley
confidant, by S. E. Huffman of the United States
Anti- Mob and Lynch Law Association who asked
Hanna to use his influence with the President to
facilitate an investigation of events in Wilmington. S.
E. Huffman to Marcus Hanna, November 29, 1898,
Department of Justice Files, National Archives,
Washington, D. C.
cannons, in wagons, and they set fire to
almost half of the City.” 9
Harry Hayden of the Wilmington
Light Infantry, writing well after the event,
recorded that McKinley met with Mrs. A. B.
Skelding, wife of one of the members of the
Group Six who was privy to the plans for
the coup. According to Hayden, Mrs.
Skelding was a native of Ohio and neighbor
to the president when they were young. She
visited with the president in Washington
after the violence to explain her views of the
situation, and counseled that the
“ Wilmington Rebellion” was necessary to
return the city to white rule. Hayden quoted
the President as saying that he understood
the issues at hand and had “ neither the wish
nor intention of interfering.” 10
Record of Dorothy Skelding
meeting with McKinley,
November 19, 1898.
Image: Papers of William McKinley,
National Archives microfilm
9 Letters to President McKinley, General Records of
the Department of Justice, National Archives. For full
text of this and other letters, see Appendix J.
10 Hayden, WLI, 98.

196
the next few days, McKinley receivied
letters written by Wilmington’s African
Americans begging for help and by others
pleading with the president on behalf of the
blacks in the South. 8
The letters to McKinley reflect a
spectrum of responses to the violence and
the desire for governmental involvement.
Out- of- state correspondents stressed the
patriotism of African Americans as they
appealed to McKinley’s honor and implored
intervention: “[ I] f there needs to be a
standing army, please send one.” Letters
from Wilmington reflected a different tone
and demonstrated the fearfulness of the
city’s blacks: “[ A] re we to die like rats in a
trap?” Three days after the riot, one
correspondent who said that she could not
“ sign [ her] name and live” wrote a detailed
account of the violence, intimidation and
banishment campaign. At the top of her
letter she asked the President to “ send relief
as soon as possible or we perish.” In the
body of her note, she explained that many in
the city would gladly go to Africa because
of the violence: “[ T] oday we are mourners
in a strange land with no protection near.
God help us.” Another correspondent who
was “ afraid to own [ his] name” wrote to
McKinley that blacks were overpowered
“ with the rapid fire of the guns, and they had
McKinley, November 12, 1898, McKinley Papers,
National Archives, Washington, D. C.
8 A collection of letters received by McKinley is held
in the Department of Justice files for 1898 in the
National Archives. One of the letters was written to
Marcus Hanna, Ohio U. S. senator and McKinley
confidant, by S. E. Huffman of the United States
Anti- Mob and Lynch Law Association who asked
Hanna to use his influence with the President to
facilitate an investigation of events in Wilmington. S.
E. Huffman to Marcus Hanna, November 29, 1898,
Department of Justice Files, National Archives,
Washington, D. C.
cannons, in wagons, and they set fire to
almost half of the City.” 9
Harry Hayden of the Wilmington
Light Infantry, writing well after the event,
recorded that McKinley met with Mrs. A. B.
Skelding, wife of one of the members of the
Group Six who was privy to the plans for
the coup. According to Hayden, Mrs.
Skelding was a native of Ohio and neighbor
to the president when they were young. She
visited with the president in Washington
after the violence to explain her views of the
situation, and counseled that the
“ Wilmington Rebellion” was necessary to
return the city to white rule. Hayden quoted
the President as saying that he understood
the issues at hand and had “ neither the wish
nor intention of interfering.” 10
Record of Dorothy Skelding
meeting with McKinley,
November 19, 1898.
Image: Papers of William McKinley,
National Archives microfilm
9 Letters to President McKinley, General Records of
the Department of Justice, National Archives. For full
text of this and other letters, see Appendix J.
10 Hayden, WLI, 98.